I am back...

Excerpt from batman:

Alfred Pennyworth: Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up
Bruce Wayne: You still haven't given up on me?
Alfred Pennyworth: Never


Thank you for not giving up hope on me. I will bounce back... With leaps and bounds.. *all smiles*

When are you coming back ? Miss you la..

What happened to the happy go lucky cheerful girl I once knew?
Where is your smiles and your contagious laughter?
Where are those happy carefree days?
Where are the dreams and the hot summer nights and rainbow filled days?

When are you coming back ?

I miss you...

Moving on....

And Moving forward...

New Challenge - Gen Y

How do you motivate a staff who:

1) would like to be spoon fed
2) is a gen-Y and thinks that you owe them a living even though they have no business experience or technical background
3) wants to have high remuneration package and yet do not want to put in effort to earn their worth.
4) do not want to learn things from end-to-end but would rather take the easy way out and ask if there's a short cut - (*without business knowledge or technical expertise, it's very difficult to bluff your way through la, dear... Even amateurs like me can see right through your shenanigans.)
5) demands to work on a 9-5 basis only but yet do not want to be viewed as merely a clerical. (want to be regarded as professional it seems)
6) thinks that you are too restrictive when you do not allow access to Facebook, MSN chats and webmail services. (Actually, I am very liberal. If you can justify your need for these services in relations to your job efficiency and effectiveness improvement, by all means, please apply and I shall approve accordingly).

It's pretty worrying to see that in this competitive world, where we not only need to compete with peers but also machines, there are still people out there who thinks that they do not need to work hard to prove their worth.

While I know that if you have such staff, you also would like to slap her to wake her up, we cannot do that. We have to handle the case professionally.

First of all, we would need to ensure she understands her job scope or job description. It is important to discuss the job expectations with your staff in relations to the KPI to ensure she does not lose focus in her job.

Also, ensure she understands her career path on why she needs to learn from end-to-end. (I have already tried this but beware that a sly and lazy person will try to wriggle themselves out of every hard work where necessary. Thus it's important to put in the right amounts of control checks like milestones or checkpoints).

Engage her in her responsibilities in explaining to her that the importance of on the job training and the importance of learning end to end. Every staff have to know that they are part of the complex wheels that turns the company. Every staff is a cog in the company's wheels and as they fit, mesh together and work with other cogs, they can generate enormous power to turn the wheels of the giant machine called company. Let them understand the goals of the company, the division, the section, the team, down to the level of individual team members. All of the goals and objectives must be in line with each other and each supporting its own and the higher level.

The real challenge is to instill the basic value and underlining self motivation into the individual. They must understand that despite how much potential they have in them, it doesn't count if they are not willing to do the difficult, mundane and repetitive daily tasks that are essential to success. Yes, it's difficult to instill humility in an individual, but that's the challenge we have to face today with the gen-Y.

The above 3 things are important factors to ensure you are covered in the old management style perpective especially if your HR is still of the baby boomers generation. One thing we need to understand about the gen-Y is that they have a higher comfort level whereby most graduates nowadays move back to stay with their parents and don't really have the urgency to carve a career path and working is not a survival need, affording them the luxury to choose a job that they truly enjoy. So motivating them with only money is not enough.

They want to have fun at work and if it's fun, money and time spent at the office is not really a problem. Gen-Ys enjoy challenges, are face paced and want to learn new stuffs all the time. So to motivate them, we have to make our work environment fun and a place to hang out, i.e. Google makes its office environment so comfortable that you can literally stay there without going home.

These are some basic traits of gen-Y so that you can identify whether the staff is just plain lazy or the complains are the true manifestation of a disguntled gen-Y.

Good luck and let's have some fun in managing the gen-Y. hahaha.

~ viewed from the eyes of a hybrid of gen-X and gen-Y.

Moodless in the cradle

Don't know why ... Just feel the absence of any mood ... Thus mood less.. haha... Moodless is not even a word... But I don't know how to describe the feeling of an absence of any feeling... Not moody because that will mean I am unhappy with something .. But no, I m not unhappy .., just normal I guess ... Hahaha.... Well, feels good to be normal instead of being constantly ecstatic all the time (aka crazy!) ... Hahaha ... Have a nice day 

Apple of my "i"

Can't help but blog about iPhone again. Apple makes me fall in love over and over again. And it's a great feeling.....I remember professing my love shamelessly towards the imac a couple of years back and now I am in love with the mini version of the powerful machine. Just cant help it... they are so sleek and suave and smooth .... Just can't resist the apple of my "i"... just have to be with it, touch it at every opportunity that I have.

Excuse me.. but I have to go entertain my iPhone.... (he entertains me, i entertain back... that's how reciprocrative our relationship is... which is why it's so fulfilling and so heavenly... Steve Jobs really creates miracles... the more we love our iPhones, the more it will love us back and keep us happy... :)

Can't contain my feelings any longer.... "I love you, you are the apple of my i... :) Muaks..."

Best Day Of My Life

Thanks for making today one of the best days of my life.... *winks*.... It feels like heaven on earth...I shall remember it forever and ever.... tattooed in my heart ... :)

Me and my new love

Welcome to the world of buying accessories, accessories and more accessories.. .

Let's start with a screen protector - Has to be fingerprintless type and has security features.

Then a casing to protect the sides from scratches
Then a pouch or sleeve to ensure total protection when you put in your pockets or bags (in case your car keys scratches the smooth exterior)
Then another pouch to suit another occassion (you cannot wear the same shirt everyday right?)
...Then an extra charger for home, the other for office (too cumbersome to bring adapter here and there...)
Then an extra sync cable for times when you are mobile
Then a car charger just in case you run out of battery
Then a aux cable to connect to your car audio system to play music from your iphone in your car
Then a mobile charger (extra juice) to ensure you have enough battery on the go.

The above are only the absolute necessary...the other luxuries can go on like a docking system for your house audio video system, a wifi sync system for downloading songs, changing your car audio system to enable fittings of iphone into the car if your current system is not "iphone ready" etc... and the list goes on until you finally need to buy a new BMW to match your iphone.. :)

Better get started soon... I am already ahead of you a few steps towards getting my BMW... ahahhaha

Blogging from IPhone!

OMG! How cool is technology? Wayyyyyy cool! I am very impressed with this small powerful piece of gadget called iPhone! It's simply AMAZING! I can truly call myself a mobile user now. I am writing this from my iPhone. And the best part is, the response time is pretty fast! So, moving forward, I can write down my ideas immediately in blogspot instead of scribbling notes everywhere.

I guess this really is a worthwhile investment. It can bring a lot of joy to online addicts hahaha

Alright, keeping it short and simple as I can't wait to post my first blog with my iPhone !

•guess I mentioned the word iPhone many times in this article. Can't help it.... Think I am in love....

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Got this message in a forwarded email which a certain JackDS forwarded to a yahoogroup. I don't know him, and also don't know the original writer for this poem, thus I don't know who the credit should goes to. However, I think it's very appropriate for this Hari Raya. Just want to take the opportunity to wish all my friends a Happy Hari Raya and Maaf, Zahir dan Batin.

Ampun dan maaf andainya saya ini...

Terkasar bahasa dalam bicara

Tersilap bicara semasa bersama

Termarah yang tak kena tempatnya

Tertanya tak tentu hala ..

Tersasul yang tak sengaja

Terpukul kat mana-mana

Terpekik kuat di telinga

Terhantuk terketuk di kepala

Terpinjam terambil harta & benda

Termoody tak semena-mena

Terumpat bila ada cerita,

Teremail benda yang tak sepatutnya awak terima

Termacam-macam yang kena-mengena..,,

Di hari yang mulia sepuluh jari ku hulurkan semua,

Memohon kemaafan atas segala dosa yang ada

Kerana saya masih bernama manusia

Pastinya tak lepas membuat dosa

Semoga dimaafkan,

Salam Aidil Fitri Maaf Zahir & Batin

The Power of English

English is a wonderful language... you can upset people unknowingly or scold some people but yet they feel happy about it ... it all boils down to the puns, or idioms that you use to express yourself...

No brainer by definition, means...."Something so simple or easy as to require no thought" .... When I said that a report is a no brainer (meaning to say it's a good report that does not require further thought to decipher), a colleague from another department went crying thinking that I scolded her that she has no brains... Hahaha.. A compliment to the report turned sour...

And then, when I scolded someone Smart Alec, that person was HAPPY, thinking that I complimented him for being SMART... hahaha...

Such are the oxy morons of English... And just to be clear, I am not implying that anyone is a "moron"... An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines normally-contradictory terms (2 words with opposite meanings forming a meaningful word), such as pretty ugly, or deafening silence.

So, you can see, it is useful that you master English... it can be a very powerful communication tool indeed.

=================================================================================
If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size? ~Sydney J. Harris

Managing people

Managing People.... as people comes in all shapes and sizes (meaning all different kinds of characters, behaviours, attitude and office cultural background) it is one of the most difficult but most crucial aspect in an organisation. An organisation is made up of its people, thus managing people is unavoidable.

Nobody can see in the eyes of management until they have sat in the hot seat of "management". All my previous theory in management has not equiped me with all the experience required in managing people. Well, this is good as it means I still have much to learn and much more room to grow... :) And being young means I am allowed to make some mistakes here and there as long as the lesson came with it.. :)

Isn't life full of surprises and challenges which makes it sooo much more colourful... ?

Having said that, I find it easier to work with male conterparts as they, (irregardless of ranks), tend to be more logical, systematical, fast, direct and less petty in their daily dealings. They tend to be less emotional and make their judgements and decisions base on facts and logic rather than depending on feelings and gut feel. Yes, being a female, I admit to generally making the same gender prone, hormone induced mistakes. However, I try hard to think like a man....

Ok...ok..... Not wanting to risk being labelled as gender biased, let's have the following pictures do the talking... :)

pictures sourced from Zits comic archive http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20040101&name=Zits

Management 101: Self Motivation

How do you motivate people to take responsibility for their work and also things that are not even in their job scope and to make them do it willingly and whole heartedly .... taking the lead and taking all responsibilities and accountability from head to toe, from documentation, reporting and updates while ensuring quality on spec on time... ?

A big question mark. Tough but still not impossible.... I have seen many self motivated people out there working way beyond their call of duty and while occasionally grumble and grunt but still get the job done with pure heart and soul.

Self motivation is very important as you go up as your bosses no longer have the time to spoon feed you with motivation. I mean, look at all the top management. You think the CEO have time to sit down and motivate them slowly? At their level, motivation is easy as most of the top management already have their self agenda and targets and are motivated by actualising their personal targets which usually they will try to align to the CEO's target to get where they are...

At our lower level, well, we just need to find the motivation factor that can give us the passion to do our work and that very passion will spur us to walk that extra mile, take the extra weight and push extra harder....

And then you will need to try to identify what motivates your staff.... now that's the challenge because not everyone is at the maturity level to be self motivated. They are motivated by various factors such as money, good working environment, career path etc etc... So it's our job to help them identify their goals and motivate or guide them accordingly.

A big task... easier said than done... I am still learning this skill too.... Care to give a pointer or two?

More management lessons - Looking Up, Down, Left, Right, Centre

All my life I have been taught to LOOK UP...

1) Look up, reach for the stars, so that you wont end up with a handful of sand...
2) Look up to people and respect them....,
3) Look up to role models, follow their footsteps to success...
4) Look up, heads up, look ahead and think ahead...
5) even in IT, we have to lookup tables...

However, I now realise, it's equally important to look down as well. Yes, look down and see your people. Look down to see where you came from and learn from both your success and your mistakes. I am in middle management now... so it's equally necessary to look both Up and Down. I have to look up to follow the footsteps of senior management and I have to look down upon my staff to ensure that they are taken care of. I have to ensure that they are comfortable and happy with their environment and with "woman on top". :)

*Note: it's not looking down ON them but looking down TO SEE them....y'know, the "I see you" ala Avatar style...

For example, the working environment have to be kept clean and healthy and functional to ensure staff grousing are kept to the minimal. Staff welfare is utmost important for management because that's their essential job scope, which is to be responsible for your staff. Yes, the responsibility spreads wider than just the daily operational work but also include office ergonomics to ensure everyone has good fit in the working environment which will make work safer, healthier and more productive and eventually lead to happier and more productive staff...

So I learnt that I need to check on whether their cubicles are ergonimical, or if they have enough office supplies, whether the lights are bright enough, whether there's clean water supply, provide a comfortable and convenient pantry (**) , and most of all, ensure a fully functional, hygienic washroom.

** You may be surprised by this research findings but pantry is one of the most important office areas (next to corridors and elevators) as it provides a relaxed avenue for creative ideas exchange and team building. Thus you see Google and Microsoft spending on building nice, comfortable pantries for their staff.

So there...the take home note is ...remember to look up and look down.... and of course, don't forget the age-old lesson which you teach every child....to look left, right and left again... you must look-to, look-for and look-out for your peers as well.. ;) *wink*

Self Reflect

A lot of things happened within these 3 months. A lot of things are positive and contribute a lot to my personal growth. However, nothing is always as rosy as we want it to be. We carved a comfortable path for all to thread on. The path is clear and beautiful but along the way, people may steal some flowers from your lawn... But that's life... there's bound to be some set backs and hiccups... which makes the experience more challenging, more colourful, more complete which helps build our character and gives us an opportunity to create legends and stories we can tell to touch our kids and grand kids....who will in turn be proud to tell their kids and grand kids and generation to come.

I take responsibilities for things that happen... and I tend to analyse it a lot especially when it concerns me, to see what I could've done better to make the outcome more positive. I'd like to learn from the situation and better myself in the process. So now it's time for self reflect.. and see how I can do things better... Will update more when I find myself...

Practical Management 101: Maturity level

To groom someone to become a manager, you must first identify their maturity level. This maturity level here doesn't direct correspond with age. It doesnt mean older is wiser in management. It's the amount of exposure and experience a certain mind has gone through before the mind has mature to the management level to understand why certain management decisions are made.

When my friends and I first started work, fresh out of school and all naive, we used to play more than we worked. Of course, there was the usual gossip/grousing against "management" and the boss. We used to hate our bosses coming into the room during our gossip sessions... until one young girl (who also gossiped with us), maybe 18, told us off, by reprimanding "Of course the boss have to be strict with us. Don't expect the boss to come gossip with us to encourage us not to work. The company will "chup lup" (fold) lor..."

She was way matured for her age to be able to think for the bosses. True enough, with her maturity level, it was quick for her to rise the corporate ladder, being a manager after 1.5 years.

Sometimes you see some people become "pets" of bosses.... mostly because these "pets" have matured to a level where they know what the management likes and is able to act before the management tells them what to do ... (actually it applies outside the office as well... Try pre-empting what your spouse wants to eat and prepare that for dinner, or give your partner a massage before he/she ask for it on a day when he/she is tired..... I am sure you will become the apple of your partner's eye and guarantee to reap very positive results *wink* *wink*)

So if you can think like your bosses, then you have somewhat reach a certain management maturity level. If you can think FOR your bosses, you have reached an even higher management maturity level. If you can think of SOLUTIONS FOR your bosses... then... you know.. you are close to taking over your boss ahhahaah...

Moral is... to groom someone to fill certain shoes (positions)...select your candidate carefully, first you need to see his appetite to the task (appetite will determine the drive and motivation) and check his maturity level. The last thing you want is to promote someone who will bite you on the hands just when you need him the most... Ensure your staff's maturity level is there where you want it, and develop it accordingly to ensure high standard level of the delieverables.

If the staff has no heart or no appetite and haven't mature to the management level, then just forget it. Dont waste time on grooming him, as you can never teach an old dog new tricks.

BW

Was being bogged with a terribly hard puzzle last week. Something that made me wonder hard and long… and made several of my colleagues thought hard and long too. Almost cannot eat and sleep thinking about it.. ahhaha Exaggerated a little…

You see, there’s a floor in our building that is labeled as BW in our elevators. I am new to the building and I was intrigued by the BW on the lift. Several inquiries fell onto deaf ears as nobody knows what “BW” stands for. I asked my best friend Mr Google and he too drew blanks. I was told that BW stands for Barang Wilayah, Black and White, in BetWeen, BaWah and other such nonsense. And the funny thing was, I was told that it was a “ghost floor”. Every building comes with its ghost stories but this one takes the cake. She told me wide eyed with all honesty, “Really geh…. There’s one floor nobody dares to go to. And it is not accessible also. Go ask Gavin and the operators and see… and they will tell you all kinds of stories… “

Just so happen, I called a dear friend from MBA classes the other day to catch up... Coincidentally, he worked in the same building before 10 years back... and told me that.... BW .... stands for..... Breeze Way...

Why Breeze way? Well, it's because that part of the building is open air and the corridor serves like an airwell which welcomes a flow of breeze to ventilate that floor... thus, Breeze way lor...

Hahaha...

Another mystery is history….

Relativity Concept

Everything is relative... I watched 3 movies today, Jennifer's Body, Bounty Hunter and New Moon... And even though New Moon wasn't like drop dead good with lots of loose ends, somehow, after 2 bad movies, New Moon seems like "Wow, this is great romantic stuff... I like..." .... So if you wanna look good, try the relative concept.. Stand next to losers :P

Thank God for the internet...

Probably have internet withdrawal symptoms.. havent been well since yesterday...

And so coincidentally my streamyx was down...

Luckily I have recently converted my mobile phone line to an unlimited data plan.... so I am able to connect to the internet via my mobile phone..

Incidentally, once I got my connection back via mobile phone, I don't feel so sick anymore....In fact, the doctor also couldn't find anything wrong with me....

Thank God for technology... now, everyone can stay connected with everyone through the www. Cool...

(btw, just in case you are wondering, today is a public holiday and thus, no.. I didn't go to a doctor just to get MC)

life is all about learning - another first today...

Had my first taste of interviewing and picking staff today. And guess what? My first candidate is a gwai lo ... lucky me... hahaha...

Well, he was from Iran.. big, tall and handsome... but ... didn't have enough technical skills to carry him through... I do look for brains over brawns.. .hahaha... No offense... We didn't make it a difficult interview but we just want to ensure the people who come in can start work immediately.

Anyway, the second candidate, a sweet honest lady was much better and we decided to give her a try...

Well, I learnt how to gauge people from their first looks and how they answer questions ... pleasant... and I guess I still have to do a lot more of these.. There's also the price negotiations skills which I have yet to learn... One step at a time....